Wealth, Power, and the Internal Revenue Service: Changing IRS Audit Policy through Litigation

Objectives . Although scholars have recognized that the wealth and power of litigants has substantial influence on litigation outcomes, there has been less recognition of the ability of the wealthy to sway agency policy through litigation. I argue that the wealthy, through lawsuits and the outcomes from the litigation, influence Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits of the wealthy and the less affluent. Methods . I examine IRS state audit rates and use ordinary least squares regression with panel corrected standard errors. Results . I show that wealthy litigants can influence the IRS to decrease audits of the wealthy and increase audits of the less affluent. Conclusions . The wealthy appear to have the ability to influence IRS policy through lawsuits. Litigation can influence agency policy.     

Toward a History of Psychological Expertise

In honor of the 60th anniversary of SPSSI's founding, this issue examines the ascendence of psychological expertise in American society. After World War II, psychology grew as the public accepted the illuminating power and social benefits of psychologists' expert knowledge. In that period, four problems confronted psychological experts as their numbers and influence grew. First, they needed ideas and methods that were new and superior to common sense. Second, experts needed to appear both relevant and objective. Third, psychologists needed to forge alliances with those who held social power in the settings in which they wished to operate. Finally, experts needed to balance the roles of social critic and social engineer.     

Statistical Inference Based on Pooled Data: A Moment-Based Estimating Equation Approach

We consider statistical inference on parameters of a distribution when only pooled data are observed. A moment-based estimating equation approach is proposed to deal with situations where likelihood functions based on pooled data are difficult to work with. We outline the method to obtain estimates and test statistics of the parameters of interest in the general setting. We demonstrate the approach on the family of distributions generated by the Box-Cox transformation model, and, in the process, construct tests for goodness of fit based on the pooled data.     

Methodological Approaches to Assessing Risk Perceptions Associated with Food-Related Hazards

The psychometric approach developed by Slovic and his co-workers has been effectively used to assess risk perceptions associated with different food-related hazards. However, further examination (using questionnaire data and partial correlation techniques) has indicated that technological hazards are highly differentiated from lifestyle hazards, in terms of both hazard control and knowledge about the hazard. Optimistic bias was also seen to vary between hazards. Further research has focused on a particular hazard, genetic engineering. Risk perceptions associated with genetic engineering are underpinned by ethical concern and questions relating to perceived need for the technology, as well as perceptions of risk or harm. However, increasing the specificity of hazard stimuli was found to alter the factor structure of underlying risk perceptions. The utility of preference mapping procedures in determining individual differences in trust in risk regulators is also discussed.     

Object Relations Family Therapy: Articulating the Inchoate

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in psychodynamic ideas within the family therapy literature. While some authors have explored the usefulness of psychodynamic concepts in the systemic context (Byng-Hall, 1995; Flaskas, 1993, 1996; Luepnitz, 1988, 1997), others have argued that psychodynamic models of family therapy should be given more credence in systemic work with families (Guttman, 1991). This paper describes Object Relations Family Therapy (ORFT), a psychoanalytic model of family therapy, in plain English in order to minimise the obscurity of some of the existing terminology and to emphasise the utility of more contemporary formulations. ORFT addresses the interface between psychoanalytic and systemic theories. It offers a way of conceptualising complex family dynamics at both the interpersonal and intrapsychic levels. It also integrates an understanding of nonverbal, unstated and often implicit processes in its formulation of problem development. The unique contribution of ORFT is elaborated using a clinical example.